Each year thousands of women, men, and children come to the United States fleeing torture and other forms of persecution in their home countries. Through the political asylum system many individuals are able to stay in the United States escaping further persecution.

One of the key forms of evidence used to support asylum claims are medical and psychological documents assessing the consistency of an applicant’s physical and mental condition with his/her account of persecution.

The Atlanta Asylum Network is program of the Instutue of Human Rights at Emory that utilizes health professionals and student case managers who volunteer their time to evaluate asylum seekers. We provide affidavits of these evaluations to client’s lawyers for use in asylum hearings.

Initially developed in conjunction with Physicians for Human Rights, the Atlanta Asylum Network seeks to promote human dignity through upholding human rights as a service program of the Institute of Human Rights.

Lawyers and asylum seekers can fill out an Intake Form to register a case in need of our services.

Anyone who has questions, is interested in volunteering, or requests additional information can contact us at humanrights@emory.edu.

Volunteering with the Atlanta Asylum Network has opened my eyes to so many different things from the inadequacies for asylum seekers here in the Atlanta area to the extensive human rights problems that exist on a global scale. My work with this organization has truly given me a unique and meaningful perspective about my place in the world and the path that I want to follow throughout my life.